Why wait until after you are a victim of identity theft? Take steps to protect yourself before you are a victim.

Copyright (c) 2008 Ed Opperman

Many seek protection from identity theft when it is too late.

They have already compromised their own identity in many different ways, just from their online activities. Protecting your identity should be a preventative measure, not a post action. It is something we all must consider before we ever enter any form of identification of ourselves online.

Credit fraud has always existed to some degree, but with the advent of the internet, there has been an unprecedented level of awareness and consumer concern about falling victim to identity theft. Almost every day ‘phishing’ emails - which pretend to come from banks - try to extract passwords and personal details from consumers.



Most people know that an unprotected PC can be disabled by viruses and Trojans within hours and install antivirus software to protect it, but not everyone remembers to keep the antivirus software up to date. Tightening up on internet security is absolutely essential as a first defence to identity theft attempts. As an alarm system, it’s equally sensible to use a credit report monitoring service, to ensure that a consumer can quickly identify any unexpected credit check being made against them, or any new account being opened without their knowledge. This is often the first sign that identity theft has been committed. What is often not understood is that effective internet security and annual credit report monitoring is available completely free to UK consumers.



We’re in an era where fear of falling victim to identity fraud is at an all time high but by educating consumers and businesses, the risks can be much reduced, and the ways of protecting ourselves can all be had for free.



To identify potential victims of identity theft, criminals are often reported to search through rubbish bins or to abuse the public availability of electoral roll registers and analysing them for names and addresses of those identities they would like to steal.



In reality criminals don’t need to get their hands dirty or even leave their homes to commit identity theft. They only have to look on social networking websites such as Friends Reunited and track down the addresses of potential identity theft victims using websites that publish electoral roll details such as 192.com. It really is worth thinking about removing your personal details from such sites, or at least weighing up the risks and the benefits of subscribing to social networking sites, in particular to ration critical information such as place of birth. Any identity fraud criminal, based anywhere in the World, can lawfully obtain a birth certificate from a government website, armed with your place of birth.



Many consumers don’t realise that identity theft is routinely used by drug smugglers, people traffickers, prostitution racketeers and in other forms of serious crime. Most believe that the main issue arising from identity theft is credit fraud, where credit is obtained by impersonation. Many loans and credit cards can be obtained without ever having a face-to-face meeting with the service provider. And credit fraud is where consumers appear to have the greatest fear of falling victim to identity theft.



Once upon a time, credit reports were only sought by those who were declined credit, and were delivered slowly by mail. Nowadays, anyone can request a personal credit check and this can be obtained more securely and instantly online. By obtaining an annual credit report which now can be obtained entirely for free and, importantly, without having to disclose your card details, it is easy to spot any suspicious activities or irregularities.



An annual credit report will quickly reveal signs of attempted and successful credit fraud. It will show searches being made in relation to applications for credit in your name, changes of address and any new accounts opened. One free annual credit report service also offers free specialised identity theft prevention and assistance services to help you stay safe, alongside, providing independent and expert advice.

These days, you can hardly open the paper or turn on the TV without seeing articles and documentaries warning about the imminent danger of identity theft. And, even though journalists are currently having a feeding frenzy on the subject, most will be hard pressed to publish case studies, or report cases coming before the courts.



However, despite the apparent boom in identity theft crime, less than a handful of cases have been followed up by police action. From the cases recorded at the National Identity Theft Assistance Centre, only one has been pursued to the point of prosecution, and none has ever reached the courts. Losses reported from more common credit card fraud and card thefts are much bigger than from identity theft. So, is it as big a threat as it would seem, or is it just another example of media hysteria?



The hype surrounding the growth of identity theft has caused an explosion in the availability of protection products in the UK. Some credit card companies provide help services as a free part of their care package, while others have been quick to exploit the commercial benefit of selling subscriptions to various products that offer protection. Typically these are sold as opt-ins on application forms or by outbound telemarketing, with companies charging as much as £84 per annum for identity theft insurance, advice and credit file monitoring.



However, there are easier and more economic ways of protecting yourself against identity theft, which isn’t a big a problem as the media would have you believe. In the US consumers regularly check their credit reports as they are aware that this is where you would see the first indication of any identity theft activity. Every credit application leaves a search footprint and most loans and cards are reported, providing an audit trail for a consumer to spot anything unusual against their name. This practice is now catching on the UK where in 1974 the Consumer Credit Act gave everyone the right to obtain a copy of their credit report by sending £1 to a credit reference agency. In 2007, this sum has now risen to £2 and last year, over 1.8 million people applied in writing to one of the three UK credit reference agencies for their credit file, with most receiving a paper based report within 7 working days.



With the advent of the internet, online credit file reporting is on the increase. The benefits of online presentation of data over paper files are numerous. Online credit reports are delivered more quickly; leave a better audit trail; are more secure; can be stored and compared more easily. Moreover, information can be presented to the consumer with appropriate and consistent explanatory messages alongside each element of the report. So any consumer who finds errors on their credit file will find it easier to correct them and help improve the overall data quality of their records. The more accurate their records the better the consistency of lending decisions for credit.



But, the real benefit for all of us is that by regularly checking our own credit files, not only can we correct erroneous information against our name, we will be quickly alerted to any attempt of identity fraud. That is certainly a more pro-active and cheaper alternative to expensive protection offered by many credit card companies. Plus, if we all regularly checked our own credit files all the horror stories about identity theft would be just that – stories.

What is Identity Theft

Identity theft is the unauthorized use of your personal identifying information, such as your name, address, Social Security number, or credit card number to commit fraud or other crimes.

Why You Should Care

1. A thief will use the stolen personal information to obtain credit, rent an apartment, or commit other crimes. Their purpose is to run up charges in your name and then walk away leaving you to deal with the mess and a ruined credit record.